At last, women are directing tentpole features, an arena in which they've historically been sidelined. The big comic book franchises are on board too, finally hiring from the plethora of talented women in the industry. Cathy Yan and Ava DuVernay are helming two of DC Films' upcoming blockbusters for Warner Bros., Birds…

Dakota Johnson and Golden Globe winner Tracee Ellis Ross of TV’s Black-ish have signed on as the leads in Covers, a comedy set among the talent, fame and fast-paced world of Hollywood's music scene from Focus Features and Working Title Films. Nisha Ganatra, whose comedy Late Night made a big splash at this year’s…

Mindy Kaling was just 24 when she became both the first woman and the first person of color to join the writing staff of The Office. 14 years later, this January, her production company Kaling International sold the film she wrote, Late Night, in a record deal with Amazon at Sundance. She also just had her newest film…

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent is looking to enrich and inspire the industry with its latest lineup of keynotes, films and panelists for its 14th annual Film Independent Forum. Keynotes will be delivered by Late Night filmmaker Nisha Ganatra and Len Amato President of HBO Films. The Forum will kick off with a screening…

As part of the Stella Artois & Deadline Sundance Series, Nisha Ganatra, Bruna Papandrea, and Cathy Schulman sat down for special Women in Film panel titled "#GotStamped: Gender Parity Success Stories" moderated by Amanda N’Duka. Ganatra collaborated with Mindy Kaling for Late Night which, Deadline exclusively reported…

After the electric Sundance Film Festival premiere for Late Night, the pic’s star/writer Mindy Kaling and director Nisha Ganatra woke to learn that their female-driven comedy Late Night sold to Amazon for an unprecedented $13M, as Deadline exclusively reported. “Sundance has been a dream for so long, you read about…

The Stella Artois & Deadline Sundance Series at the Sundance Film Festival continues today with Late Night, which has been one of the most anticipated films of the fest — so much that Amazon closed a record-breaking $13 million deal, as Deadline exclusively reported after its premiere on Friday. The film follows…

UPDATE: Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke on the record setting Late Night deal: “Mindy Kaling has crafted the rare film that is both entertaining and powerful. The moment the lights came up after the premiere, we knew Late Night is a film our viewers will love and talk about. It's an incisive workplace comedy that…

When it came to representing the work of women, by women on screen, Oscar voters failed to open their eyes this season. But not the Sundance Film Festival, which in a year when 42% of its competition film directors are women, premiered a comedy that’s prime for Time’s Up times: Late Night, directed by Nisha Ganatra…

Busy TV episodic director Nisha Ganatra (Transparent, Dear White People) has landed her first pilot directing gig with Highland, TNT’s comedic drama starring Margaret Cho and written and executive produced by Cho and Lost alumna Liz Sarnoff, who also will serve as showrunner. Inspired by Cho's personal history with…

Women in Film, the non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, has just elected new members to its Board of Directors as Cathy Schulman enters her third term as Board President. The newly elected are: Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, DreamWorks Animation’s Terry Curtin, Transparent…

Amy Poehler‘s Paper Kite Prods has sold two comedies from female creators — Jordan Roter and Nisha Ganatra — to ABC and NBC, respectively. Both projects have received put pilot commitments, joining Paper Kite’s comedy Dumb Prince, which has a pilot production commitment at NBC, to cap a strong selling season for the…